Q: My father is 59 years old and got operated for stomach cancer eight months back. Just four days back doctor suggested him to take a CT scan of whole abdomen. The result was normal but a lymph node was seen in the pancreas. What is the treatment and is stomach cancer hereditary?

A:The importance of the lymph node seen on CT scan should be discussed with your doctor as well as the radiologist. It may be important if it was not present in the initial CT scans. With regard to the issue of hereditary, it should be noted that there is a genetic predisposition to gastric cancer in certain families. This means there is increased risk in family members. The increased risk may be related to factors such as clustering of H. pylor infection, predisposition to a condition called atrophic gastritis, or the presence of certain cancer syndromes such as familial polyposis and Peutz Jegher's syndrome.